


Falling

by bad_grammar (transience)



Series: Akashi's Aftermath [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Short Chapters, why do i like to make akashi cry so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2197848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transience/pseuds/bad_grammar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Seirin’s win against Rakuzan, Akashi sorts through his emotions, and who else would be there to help him through but the very shadow that has overcome the light?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Akashi: Drowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi could not understand the stream of liquid that runs down his cheeks and now drips messily from his chin to the wooden floor of the previously haunted Teiko basketball court

Akashi could not understand the stream of liquid that runs down his cheeks and now drips messily from his chin to the wooden floor of the previously haunted Teiko basketball court.

He couldn’t remember the last time he cried, if ever. He didn’t cry when he was 3 and his pet cat died. He didn’t cry when he was 7 and he broke a knuckle after a fight with a senior after besting him in Akashi’s first one-on-one (Of course Akashi retaliates and the senior was in a worse state after he was done, but a broken knuckle also leads to his affinity with blades instead of fists) He didn’t cry when he was 7 and his mother died. He didn’t cry, a few months back, when Akashi Seijuro Sr. passed in his sleep.

So why. Was. _He._ of all people. _Crying._ Now. of all times?

Grasping at control, Akashi directs his feelings at himself.  
 _P_ _athetic._ The word rings in Akashi’s mind as he questions his absoluteness, his previous arrogance and self-assuredness all but obliterated.  
 _Daiki cheered for Tetsu. So did Ryouta and Shintaro and their teams. Who stands with you? Even Atsushi did not believe in your win as his team supported Tetsuya’s. Perhaps they saw your defeat coming, something your inferior Emperor Eye must have missed._

Akashi tries to bury the storm of thoughts, but like a tornado they only made things harder to grasp, and Akashi finds himself sinking deeper in, until he was at the eye of the storm, surrounded by an impenetrable chaos.

He feels the need to stay there in the calm, yet feels the pull to fight through it all despite the pain. Were he thinking rationally, he would realise that the sense of safety would only be temporary. Storms tend to be wild and unrestrained after all, never following the rules, like a certain someone who refused to acknowledge that basketball favoured those who are tall, those who can do everything.It was strange, likening the stoic Tetsuya to a storm, but then again, what could be stranger than the events unfolding now in that empty gym?

This Akashi decides he would rather stay in the empty void in his mind rather than go back to that Akashi, the one that sits a dark corner with his knees drawn to his chest, hair messy with his head buried in arms that rest upon his dirty knees, an appearance unbefitting an Akashi.

What’s left of Akashi’s sentience hears the door to the gym opening slowly, and senses the light vibrations of the floor as someone takes small, light footsteps toward him. And in the depths of his mind, Akashi sees the turquoise orbs that look at him in concern, so different from the normal indifference.

Of course, if anyone could walk through a storm unscathed, it would be him.


	2. Kuroko: Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko still believes in the slim chance that a meteor might destroy the opponent’s bench amidst a game, but he never thought anything could bring down Akashi -- ever. 
> 
> And as the minutes tick by, Kuroko worries. He doesn’t think he can take it if he loses his Akashi again to the Akashi he doesn’t know.

Kuroko’s heart wrenches in his chest as he sees Akashi’s form, small and broken on the hard floor. He pauses, almost turning back at the unfamiliar sight that sends pangs of fear and horror down his spine. Kuroko still believes in the slim chance that a meteor might destroy the opponent’s bench amidst a game, but he never thought anything could bring down Akashi -- ever.

He blinks --- once, then twice, as if it would chance what was before him. The distance closes and the shadow stands crouching over Akashi, so close, yet so far. A hand hovers over the redhead’s shoulder, hesitant to touch someone that looked so vulnerable for fear that a mere touch would shatter the fallen emperor.

Kuroko settles down next to Akashi, brushing the redhead’s side when he tenderly drapes a guiding arm around him slowly, giving him the chance to escape. Kuroko chews his lips, nervous in navigating new foreign waters, as he feels Akashi tense slightly to his touch, but Kuroko breathes again when Akashi made no move to push him away.

As the minutes tick by, Kuroko worries. He doesn’t think he can take it if he loses his Akashi again to the Akashi he doesn’t know. The two lean against the wall for a while, the smaller with an awkward yet hopeful arm around the other, who is still hugging his knees, his face shielded.


	3. Akashi: Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi always has to be perfect, and his mind is always calculating, but this one time he chooses to fight -- if only to reach Tetsuya.

Akashi feels Tetsu’s presence so close beside him, but he’s too deep in his mind this time to simply go back. So he fights, his mind a battle between him and the storm that _is_ him. Akashi fights, despite the exhaustion and pain that follows, if only to get through the winds that separate him from Tetsuya.

And it is tiring, exerting his mental prowess everyday to achieve perfection. Shogi with Midorima, games of basketball that (the other) he played no more for enjoyment, only to meet his father’s expectations, tests where he could not afford to make a mistake, not even one, all the time seeing and calculating.

But he breaks free, and cries silently, the sobs wracking his body in spasms.


	4. Kuroko: Holding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko comforts a sobbing Akashi

When Akashi starts shuddering, Kuroko is unsure whether or not to be pleased at the development. Kuroko pulls Akashi in on instinct, one hand rubbing soothing circles on Akashi’s back, the other arm reaching to wrap around the taller male’s head, fingers running through his hair, tracing his scalp. Akashi’s head now buried in his shoulder, Kuroko murmurs soft unintelligible words, of apology, or assurance. He knows Akashi can’t hear him, but he also knows Akashi understands.

Akashi shakes violently as another round of sobs take over his body, and grabs Kuroko, grasping him tightly and desperately as if he were the only thing grounding him, and perhaps then he was. Kuroko could feel Akashi’s facial expressions contorting, and it scares him that he can’t do anything but watch.


	5. Akashi: Breathing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akashi swears he felt lips brush his forehead just before he blacks out

Akashi exhausts himself after cycles of violent sobbing. Their positions have adjusted, and Akashi now sits in front of Tetsuya, his head resting against Tetsu’s chest as his heaving breaths shallow.

Tetsu strokes his hair soothingly, whispering the past... _Do you remember when I used to stay back and practice with Aomine-kun? That’s when you first saw me wasn’t it? Remember? You gave me my misdirection, my strength. I was so happy, so grateful. I still am._

The rest was lost to Akashi as his breathing shallows into the even breaths of sleep.

Akashi swears he felt lips brush his forehead just before he blacks out.


	6. Variation: A Sick!Akashi who Faints

When Akashi slumps over, Kuroko was at a loss on how to react to the male now sprawled across his lap with his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling as peacefully as his expression.

Kuroko touches his wrist against Akashi’s forehead, and draws it back as he feels it burn even under the sheens of sweat from the earlier game of basketball.

Kuroko sighs, relieved that he would not be dealing with Akashi just yet, as the red-head had fainted on him.

Kuroko snaps a picture, to preserve the open expression so unlike the normally schooled features Akashi wears


End file.
